The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 and Home-Grown Antisemitism

Authors

Felice Batlan, Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law

First Page

1057

Abstract

This Article examines the 1948 Displaced Persons Act which provided for the ability of certain European refugees to immigrate to the United States following World War II. The 1948 Act discriminated against Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and imprinted Nazi racial laws and ideology upon U.S. law. Moreover, in debates over passage of such a law, a vast amount of overt antisemitism emerged, generated by politicians and ordinary citizens, which went well beyond the question of the admission of refugees to the United States. By examining the complex and transnational events leading up to the 1948 Displaced Persons Act, and drawing upon underutilized archival material, this Article helps to uncover and explain antisemitism in the immediate post-war period. This analysis has substantial implications for how we think about the history of antisemitism and its relationship to law in the United States.

Recommended Citation

Felice Batlan, The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 and Home-Grown Antisemitism, 27 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 1057 (2024).
Available at: https://lawcommons.lclark.edu/lclr/vol27/iss4/5